POINTS TO PONDERJuly, 2015

This month we again celebrate American Independence Day. Most people will really get into the swing of it with family get-togethers, cookouts, parades, concerts, camping trips, fireworks – you name it. Independence! The dictionary explains it as freedom, liberty, autonomy, self-determination, self-reliance, self-sufficiency. Parents teach their children to do many things by themselves, so that they can grow up not relying on others to do everything for them. US Independence celebrates freedom from foreign rule and domination. Over the years we have witnessed numerous countries gaining their independence after years of being ruled by foreign nations. In this day and age the question may be asked if we really are self-reliant. We rely on other countries for much of what we use – from food to consumer goods. Only last month congress passed a law giving the president the ability to liberalize trade between the US and other countries. A few years ago, a similar thing occurred regarding NAFTA, which liberalized trade among the US, Canada, and Mexico. Some countries have defense treaties with others – such as NATO - in order to ensure their protection if they are ever attacked. So maybe we should say that we are interdependent in many areas. Countries depend on each other. In this day and age of modern technology, international trade and globalization, no country can “build a wall around itself” and live in total isolation from any other country. Recently, government data was hacked and personal information compromised, assumedly by foreign agents. We have also suffered from terrorist attacks and radicalization via the internet. It has therefore become very obvious in recent years that we cannot live in isolation. Similarly, people cannot live in isolation. People need others for mutual support, encouragement and fellowship. We need to interact with others. We need to have relationships with others. Even God created Eve, because He knew that it was not good for Adam to be alone. The Ten Commandments are relational: Commandments 1-3 address our relationship with God, and Commandments 4-10 address our relationship with others. Christians live in relationships also. Christians are the Church, which is the assembly of all believers, or the communion of saints. St. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 12 that Christians are individual parts of the one body of Jesus Christ – the Church. We each have different strengths and abilities, and these work together in order to have Christ's Church function as it should. So are we totally independent? No! Just as the US relies on other countries for certain things, we rely on each other so that we can live as God intends us to do – in relationship. Pastor Paul F. BreddinJude 24-25